BRANDY SECRETLY WEDS

The 23-year-old star of TV's "Moesha" and the movie "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" wed songwriter Robert Smith in a ceremony so private that even her overprotective mom Sonja Norwood didn't know about it.

"Brandy wanted to keep her marriage under wraps until she finished work on her new album "Full Moon," which will be released in March," a friend revealed.

"She didn't even tell her mom Sonja, who's managed her career. She was afraid her mom would take over the wedding.

"Sonja's always wanted her daughter to have a large, lavish wedding with hundreds of guests. But Brandy and Robert decided they wanted something very, very small and intimate -- just for themselves."

An insider declared: "They wed in Miami while she was there working in the studio on some new music. Robert was her producer.

"For about six months they have been pretending to be engaged.

"Brandy finally let the secret out two weeks ago as she was playing basketball with Robert and her younger brother in her parents' backyard.

"Brandy's mother Sonja came outside and said to her it was time to start planning the wedding. Brandy was tired of lying to her family and quietly said, 'Mom, we are already married.'

"Brandy's mother was shocked. She said she understood why they did this, but still feels like her daughter could've shared something so important in her life with her family.

"Now Brandy has agreed to have a big wedding reception to help appease her mom."

In a statement released by her record company, Atlantic, Brandy finally went public with the marriage news, saying: "I've fallen in love with a very warm, gentle, understanding and focused person. This summer we married quietly. I couldn't be happier!"